Unlocking the potential of forest guardians
How community forest monitors are exposing the scale of illegal logging in Cameroon and why they are the future of rainforest protection
Forests covers approximately 66 percent of Cameroon's territory and are an essential resource for thousands of local and indigenous communities. But the country lost 169,000 hectares of forest cover in 2021 alone, much of it driven by illegal logging and forest conversion and a lack of transparent and reliable information on the use of forests.
A civil society initiative is breaking down barriers to the detection and enforcement of illegal logging by unlocking the potential of forest communities to protect their territories through real-time forest monitoring.
Cameroon faces significant challenges in natural resource governance with 65 percent of timber production estimated to be illegal .
Illegal logging is enabled by rampant corruption combined with a lack of resources for law enforcement agencies to investigate and control illegal logging.
According to the 2021 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, Cameroon is ranked 144th of 180 countries worldwide.
New advances in satellite forest monitoring have transformed our ability to detect forest loss. However satellite monitoring may not show us what is driving deforestation on the ground.
In order to inform better policy choices and protect forests, we can’t rely on satellite data alone. Reliable and actionable information from the frontline is also required.
A civil society initiative led by Forests for Rural Development (FODER) and the Standardized Independent External Observation System (SNOIE) network of environmental organisations active in different regions of Cameroon is empowering local communities to monitor their forests using ForestLink.
ForestLink
ForestLink is a breakthrough tool that is unlocking the potential of forest communities to monitor and protect their forest home by connecting them with law enforcement agencies and improving access to justice.
The end-to-end system enables communities to transmit highly accurate and low-cost geographical alerts on illegal forest activities in real-time – even in remote areas where there are no telecommunication networks.
The alerts, which can be sent via SMS, internet or satellite transmission, are then received on a geo-platform where they can be analyzed and verified by NGOs.
ForestLink: An animated overview
The system in Cameroon
When ForestLink alerts are received on the ‘Monitaur’ platform, they are acknowledged and cleaned by FODER.
The team analyses data trends or patterns of illegal logging before deciding that a mission can be undertaken. The next step is for FODER to transmit these alerts to the most appropriate SNOIE member who then carries out the verification mission to ensure the accuracy of the alerts and to collect supplementary information and evidence.
A full report is then transmitted to the authorities and then formally sent to the Forest and Justice Ministries so that forest control and enforcement measures can be taken.
A member of the SNOIE network carrying out monitoring in Cameroon ©FODER
This system is transforming the detection and enforcement of illegal logging in Cameroon.
The data generated by community monitors shows endemic illegality across different regions of the country. Ilegal logging is particularly prevalent in and around certain forest concessions.
Since 2017, Cameroonian monitors have sent 1,258 alerts via the platform. The SNOIE network have carried out dozens of verification missions which has led to improved enforcement by the forest authorities.
Here you can see the number and type of alerts (illegal logging in red) as well as how many verification missions have been carried out (in blue).
The work of the SNOIE has led to the suspension of five logging licences, nine seperate seizures of timber, equipment and materials as well as several fines.
Case study: a community’s struggle against a logging company in Cameroon
The 38,013 hectare forest concession UFA 10050 has been held and operated since 2015 by the Société des Bois Africains du Cameroun (SBAC) and had its management plan approved in 2017. The area has long been reported to be a nexus of illegal activity.
The ForestLink tool was rolled out in the area in 2019 to provide real-time information on the illegal activities in this forest. In February of that year, community monitors sent alerts on potential illegal logging around the villages of Massea, Nkoulkoua and Londjap, both inside and outside of the Forest Management Unit limits.
Over the next few months, alerts continued to be sent from the concession and its environs, and in May 2019, FODER undertook a SNOIE mission to the area to confirm the facts.
The mission verified:
- 42 separate cases of unmarked stumps outside the concession boundaries
- 9 unmarked stumps inside the concession
- 46 unmarked logs inside the concession
These logs alone have an estimated market value of £100,000.
Illegally felled ayous logs in the SBAC concession without the legally required markings (©FODER 2019)
A broken system
These reports and FODER's advocacy led to control missions by the forest ministry (MINFOF). On 7 November 2019, SBAC was confirmed to have been logging beyond the limits of its concession as well as non-respect of harvesting regulations within the concession itself.
The forestry administration decided to suspend both SBAC and other companies monitored by communities with ForestLink technology, including the Sociète Forestière de Bouraka (SFB) and Scièries Mbam et Kim (SMK). MINFOF also announced that it would seize all illegally harvested timber from the companies.
However, the sanctions imposed on the companies were minuscule in comparison to the potential gains made through illegal logging and are only sporadically applied. For example current penalties for these kinds of forest crimes are a maximum of CFA 10,000,000 (£12,000) – the price of a few logs on the open market. There is no legal requirement that confirmation of payment of company fines must be made public. The maximum prison sentences for illegal logging offences is only 1-3 years.
As of June 2022, it would appear (with no further official public clarification available on the case), that SBAC, despite being a serial offender, will be permitted once again to operate freely within its concession – if they ever stopped operating during the periods of suspension at all.
The official order confirming SBAC's suspension in 2019
A new model for forest protection in Central Africa
Whilst there is no quick-fix to these governance challenges, the future of community-based real-time monitoring is limitless. The flexibility of the tool to build forms permits RFUK and its’ partners to focus on commodities that pose a risk to forests and people. These include palm oil, rubber, and mining – as well as other issues, such as gender based violence and child labour in supply chains.
ForestLink is a cost effective, scalable system and has the potential to be financed through timber seizures and as climate funding model. A 2022 study has shown that monitoring territories with the ForestLink system costs £2.75 a hectare to run.
To find out more about ForestLink and efforts to combat illegal logging in Cameroon and other tropical forest countries, visit the ForestLink website or get in contact with us at info@rainforestuk.org
